The Dangerous Testing Job
by Leveragelover
Summary: What lengths will Nate go to get Sophie back? And will he succeed or will he suffer sever consequences? Team fic with N/S. I kind of suck at summaries.
1. He's Gone Now

**This story is done so updates will be frequent. If you have been following my sotry **_**You'll Learn Eventually**_** then you know I've been working on a story. This is it. I hope you guys enjoy it *u* I don't own Leverage.**

_He's Gone Now_

**Part 1:**

_Dear Parker, Eliot, and Hardison, _

_My will is on my bed. Never come looking for me. You can call me once and that is all. Go ahead and track it but I won't be even close to that place once you get there. Please tell Sophie I'm disappearing. Goodbye._

_-Nate _

He tossed the note on the ground and walked out the door. With luck they would come looking for him. She would come looking for him.

The pilot of the helicopter landed in the meadow in the middle of the forest. Nate grabbed his duffle bag of stuff, slung it over his shoulder, and thanked the pilot.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine."

The pilot gave him a skeptical look before shutting the door. Nate walked off in the direction of the heavily wooded forest. He heard the helicopter take off and he was finally alone. Off in the distance he saw the log cabin resting peacefully and sighed. He took a deep breath of the fresh air and walked to his cabin.

The team walked into Nates apartment happily. Hardison was staring down at his phone when he caught sight of the paper. He grabbed it off the ground and the team huddled around it. One sentence in and the happiness was gone. They all read it with wide eyes. Eliot grabbed his phone and furiously started dialing. Hardison brought up something to track him on the big screen.

"Nate?" Eliot asked once the phone picked up.

"El-Eliot," Nate choked out.

He could tell that Nate was having a hard time breathing - audible wheezing noises coming through the phone. "Nate? What the hell is going on?"

"I te-te-texted Parker. Help," Nate choked out and the line went dead.

**Part 2:**

Everyone looked at Eliot as he suddenly went dead silent. They had never seen the Hitter with such fear in his eyes. The fear was soon replaced by rage.

"Track the call!" He yelled at Hardison. "Parker check your phone!"

He started pacing back and forth as he tried to think of what was going on with Nate. Was he dying? Was he already dead? Was he running? If so what from? Where was he? What was going on? Thousands of questions ran through Eliots head and he tried to shut them out.

Hardison got it up as fast as he could but something wasn't right. The screen was coming up with error every time he tried to trace the call. "I'm not getting anything! It's like someone just disconnected the number permanently."

"Dammit Hardison!" Eliot yelled.

"I can't do anything Eliot!" Hardison yelled back as he tried again and again.

"Nates dying! We don't know where the hell he is and his number just got disconnected." Eliot yelled in a full fit of rage. "What does his text say Parker."

"It's just a bunch of numbers!"

Eliot ripped the phone from her hand and read the jumble of numbers. 443150.505-1115213.8252. "This isn't going to help at all!"

"How do you know Nates dying?" Parker asked in a small voice.

"He was wheezing and asked for help." Eliots voice was jaded but his eyes told differently. They saw his cool blue eyes filled with nerves and anger mixed with fear and pain.

"What do we do now?" Parker asked.

"He wanted Sophie to know he was leaving. Let's tell her so she can decided if she wants to help us look for him or not," Eliot said. He brought up the video chat and dialed Sophie. When she picked up she looked pissed as hell. They assumed that it was because she thought it was Nate calling but her look didn't change.

"I thought I told you guys to give me some space!" She snapped at them.

"We have some very bad news Sophie..." Eliot started.

**Part 3:**

Nate threw up, his body revolted at the drug he had taken. Nothing was helping get rid of it. He knew from his friend Max that it took about 8 hours to wear off. He had already gotten through 1 hour. Nate wanted the pain to be over now! He kicked and punched the wall and slammed his head against it. Blood ran down his head and face from the cuts on his head. It dried slowly, causing it to become a sticky red substance on the side of his head. His knuckles were bruised and his body was sore. Not to forget that he was having a hard time breathing. The thing was messing with his brain and he couldn't think straight.

Why did he take this job? If each pill was worse then this then he would surely kill himself before the trial was finished. No! He would get through this. He couldn't stand to think about their faces if he died. They would be crushed. In the meantime he would have to keep himself from getting crushed.

Nate pulled himself up and dumped out the other pills. There had to be some logic to it. Trying his best he managed to separate them into days of the week.

Tuesday: The white circle pill

Wednesday: The long red pill

Thursday: The silver gel

Friday: The green capsule

Saturday: The half yellow and half red capsule

Sunday: The long white pill

He had taken the white capsule with the red stripe. The only question was:

Which one next?

He reached out and grabbed the white circle one with his shaky fingers. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water before going to swallow the pill. It was almost like his hand got frozen and his body jerked. The pill fell to the ground and the glass smashed into the window above the sink. He started choking and fell to the ground. The air wouldn't come through his throat; it was closing up. Colorful dots exploded on his vision before the black started to take over. The last thing he saw was the cherry wood on the cupboard before the world went black.

**Yes I know it's a short chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated **


	2. A Planned Death

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews! Now you get to find out a little bit more on what's going on. I don't own Leverage.**

_A Planned Death_

**Part 1:**

Sophie's body language changed when she heard Eliot. His voice was sad. Every worst-case scenario started pouring through her mind and she blurted out the worst one she could think of. "Is Nate dead?"

"We're not sure. There's a large chance he is though," Eliot answered. It pained him to say the words and it pained him even more when he saw the look on her face. The tears filled her eyes but didn't spill onto her face. Her lips were parted in fear, almost in disbelief. They watched as her eyes flicked over them in fear and worry.

"Where is he? Why haven't you guys gone looking? What happened?"

"We don't know where he is. His phone number got disconnected. He left this note." Eliot went onto read Nates note and he looked up to see Sophie trying to recollect her feelings.

"Is there anything you guys can use to help track him? Are then any clues he gave you?" Sophie asked desperately. She couldn't lose him. Not now. The months she had spent moving on from her pathetic little daydream crush were gone. Every ounce of feeling she had for him was back and stronger then ever. If he was dead...if...

"He texted Parker a bunch of numbers and asked for help. I'll forward you the text."

"Please tell me if you find anything. I'll be on the first flight I can get back," Sophie said quickly. She disconnected the video chat and buried her face in her hands. Why now? Why did this have to happen? Why Nate? Why not her? Then it hit her. She was the one that walked out on him so in return he walked out on them. In that moment she wished she could take it all back. She could've been eating dinner with the team, laughing and subtly teasing Nate. Her phone went off signialing a text. It was the one Eliot had forwarded.

'443150.505 -1115213.8252.'

The numbers made no sense. If she subtracted them she just got a random number but what good would that do? Why did the man have to be so cryptic?

Sophie heard something slip under her door and she looked over to see a small piece of paper on the ground. She walked over to it, picking it and reading the small letters on it.

They're GPS coordinates.

**Part 2:**

Eliot had been hard at work trying to figure out what Nate had meant. He tried algorithms and trying for secret codes. He was coming up with absolutely nothing. Parker was pacing back and forth, opening and closing a lock. She tended to do that when she was nervous. What if they lost Nate? They were almost like a little dysfunctional family. Or at least the closest family she had next to Archie. Hardison spent his time trying to track Nate down. Whatever Nate had done he had paid in cash withdrawn a long time ago. He even checked the security footage and saw he didn't even leave with anything. None of it made sense. They spent hours sitting there thinking. There was no word from Sophie about any of her ideas. Parker was almost starting to doubt she'd come with them.

Then she started to think. Did she know where he was? Did she know what was going on? What if this was all a big conspiracy to take them down. No! That couldn't be true. She walked over to Eliot and started reading over his shoulder.

"Find anything?"

"No! I'm trying to work so can you please stop breathing down my neck?" Eliot demanded.

Parker went over to see what Hardison was doing. She saw his hands kept fidgeting, which was an unusual sight for being a skilled hacker. He was nervous about what was going on. Hardison looked over at her, his once gentle eyes now full of unnerve.

"What if he's gone?"

"I don't know. What if he is gone?"

"He's not gone! We're going to find him," Eliot snapped. He only looked at them for a second before going back to decoding. There had to be some code to this. Nate would be smart enough to leave something behind.

"Did you check his web browser history?" Eliot suddenly asked. Hardison blinked a few times before pulling it up. Eliot wove through all the websites but didn't find any indicating where he was going. None of them even included the numbers.

Curiously, Parker wandered upstairs to Nates bedroom. On the bed she found his will. Her fingers brushed against the paper and she yanked then back when they touched as if she had burned herself. Why did he leave his will?

Was he planning on dying?

Was he going somewhere where he'd die?

What if he knew someone was going to kill him?

Parker raced downstairs to tell the boys the information her mind had just processed. It may not be much but they could at least try and start to form a hypothesis.

**Part 3:**

Parker abruptly ran into the room, startling the hitter and hacker. "I think Nate is planning his death!"

The looked at her with their signature 'are you crazy?' and 'there's somethin' wrong with you' looks.

"What do you mean?" Eliot asked slowly. His initial reaction was to roll his eyes and go back to doing some real work. However, in this situation they're running blind he could use any information or ideas he can get.

"Why did Nate leave his will?" Parker asked as she started to pace again.

They two men blinked at each other. "Why did he leave his will?" Hardison asked.

"Exactly! He either was planning on dying or is going somewhere where he'll die."

"Why would he want to die though?" Hardison asked quietly.

They all sat there and pondered the thought in silence. Eliot thought that maybe it had to do with Sophie but he wasn't sure. He had the team...Sophie could come back. Did he give up all hope already? He had the team even if he didn't have Sophie.

Hardison tried not to think about Nate planning his own death. They had almost lost Sophie just months before with the motion sensitive plant bomb. He couldn't afford to lose Nate too. Nate was almost like a father to him. Why did Nate leave? He had the team now...why did he need to leave? Was it Sophie? Was it because she left?

Parker knew that they would get Nate back. She couldn't lose him. Not now. She wanted to think that he was just going somewhere dangerous. In the back of her mind she knew that was a lie. He wanted to die. She had a feeling that he just wanted the pain to go away. Why did she walk away? Why did he let her walk away? Why didn't Nate ask them for help? Why...

Nate woke up with a migraine. The dim light was blinding him and he started retching but there was nothing to throw up. Instead he lay there coughing and choking as his body tried to rid itself of the drug. His body soon gave up and he slumped back on the floor. He was desperate. Desperate enough to do this drug trial. He shouldn't have taken it. He should not have listened to Max. He should've just waited. Why was he so stupid? Why did he have to be so blinded? He worked in the business long enough to know that he shouldn't have done it.

**Who slipped that paper under Sophies door? Is Nate planning his death? Will Sophie go after Nate? Will the team find Nate? Questions questions…..**


	3. A Fire Will Answer

**Thank you guys for all the reviews! I am glad you guys have lots of questions. Here is the next chapter.**

_A Fire Will Answer_

**Part 1: **

Sophie finished throwing her clothes haphazardly into her duffle bag and zipped it shut. She had looked up the numbers as GPS coordinates and found out that he was in Targhee National Forest in Idaho. After getting herself a private helicopter there she started packing. She checked her watch and saw that she had a half hour to get there. Quickly she threw her duffle bag into the truck, got into the car, and slammed on the gas. She needed to get to Nate as fast as she could - to make sure he wasn't dead. Why was this happening? Was someone after him? Did he leave so he could die? Was he planning his death? If so, did he want to die because she wasn't there? Was he so in love with her that he couldn't live without her? She knew that every time he called her he was always trying to say something but could never get it out. Was he trying to say he loved her before he left?

"No! That can't be true!" She suddenly yelled. Her vision was starting to get blurry with tears and she quickly blinked them away. What if he was dead when she got there? She tried to block the thoughts of her head as she drove up to the private airport. The helicopter was already there and she hastily parked. She grabbed her duffel bag and ran over to the helicopter and got in.

The helicopter landed in the field and she thanked and paid the pilot. She didn't waste a second in getting out and looking for any sight of Nate. Off in the distance she saw a wood cabin and started heading off in that direction. She threw open the door and she swore something had died in there.

**Part 2: **

Nate was lying on the floor in the main hallway. The drug had started to wear off but his mind had become slightly delirious. Strings of random words were spilling out of his mouth as looked at the damage on his hand. He had been rummaging through the cupboards looking for something to help the pain go away. One of the first things he grabbed slipped out and fell on the floor. Some of it got on his hand and created a pain similar to the one he had been feeling. He saw the words lye written on a piece of the glass but he was so much in pain his mind didn't register it. Back to the present, he heard the faint click of the door but he swore it was his imagination. Then he heard it slam shut again and maybe some screaming. Again, he swore it was just his imagination. Nobody cared to come looking. No one cared at all. He might as well die now. His mind filled up with fog as the effort of thinking became too much.

Slowly he got to his feet and went to gather his stuff back into his duffel bag. Along with his stuff he put bottles of water and some food. Once he got his stuff together he started moving the wood from the fireplace onto the floor where he had been lying. He threw anything flammable into the pile and threw flammable things onto the stove. Nate lit the pile on fire and turned the stove on. Then he grabbed the pills and put them in the bag before walking out of the house. He walked and walked away from the house until a voice stopped him.

"Nate?"

He didn't turn around for fear that she would see what he had done to himself. "Sophie? I thought I told nobody to come looking for me."

"I thought you were dead!"

"So did I."

"Nate, what's going on? What are you doing out here?"

"I'm doing a favor for a friend," Nate lied half-heartedly.

Sophie started to feel the air behind her get hotter. "What kind of favor would need you to come out to the middle of nowhere?"

Nate sighed heavily. "A bad favor."

The air became unnaturally hot and she turned around to see the source. Behind her she saw the house going up in flames. It was starting to reach to the dry leaves on the ground and the leaves at the top. Sophie's eyes went wide and she grabbed Nates hand and started dragging him off from the direction of the house. Once they got far enough away she started to see it grow and grow up to the trees.

Nate had started a forest fire.

**Part 3:**

Hardison had put the news on for some background noise as they worked. They had been brainstorming ideas about why Nate left and his cryptic message. Parker wasn't really paying attention but instead watching the news. She watched as it cut from an interesting story about a gang murder to breaking news.

_'We now come live with breaking news about a forest fire in the Targhee National Forest in southeast Idaho. The origin of the fire is still unknown as we are still working on putting out the fire. It has burned down over 15 square miles of the national forest.' _

Parker watched as it went back to the regular news and the story picked up where it left off. The story about the fire wasn't all that intriguing so she ignored it. Why would people in Boston care about some national forest burning down? Well...it was a national forest so maybe it was sort of important. About 10 minutes later her show was interrupted again.

_'We have found the source of this fire. It appears to be a cabin not to far from one of the ponds and river. We believe that this fire was started intentionally. There are people searching for any bodies as we speak. They will be shutting down anything within a 20 mile radius from the fire until further information is gathered. Here are the coordinates of the origin.' The screen flashed to a picture with the coordinates and a map. _

_Latitude: 44° 31' 50.505"_

_Longitude: -111° 52' 13.8252"_

Parker's eyes went wide. "Did you see that?" She nearly yelled.

"What?" Eliot asked in an annoyed tone.

"Those numbers Nate said on the phone were coordinates. The exact same coordinates they said was the origin of this forest fire." She rewinded it and played the part over again.

"We need to get there now."

"We may be too late..." Hardison said in a small voice.

"I don't care if we only find a charred corpse. We're bringing Nate back." Eliots voice was firm and reinforced by the determination in his eyes. They all knew that they would do anything to get Nate back. And if they weren't too late they would save him from another possible attempt at suicide.

**Little bit of unrealism with the breaking news but I tried :P Anywho, if you look up the coordinates you can see the place I picked. The fire is fiction and I'm not exactly sure how fast the fires spread etc etc. Let's just use our imagination…**


	4. You Should Be Ashamed

**Thanks again for the reviews ****^u^ This chapter should explain most everything about this "favor" Part 1 is a flashback. **

_You Should Be Ashamed_

**Part 1: **

Nate was up in New York visiting his old friend Max. Well, actually Max had asked him to do him a favor but Nate needed to be there in person. He was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of him as he looked at Max. Max worked at a pharmaceutical company and he was one of the main drug creators. Often times he would hear about a new type of medicine that he had created. The medicines did some interesting things. He created one that ceased many aspects of ADHD for a while. This way the person was able to stay calm for a longer period of time. They had been talking about how Nates 'work' had been going when Max suddenly changed the conversation.

"I need you to do me a favor."

Nate looked at his friend curiously. "Depends on the favor."

"I need you to do a drug trial for me."

"No, I don't do drugs," Nate said firmly.

"Look, there's seven different pills and I need to know which one's the cure. You would take this one-" Max pointed to a white capsule with a red stripe "-which is a mild pain inducer. That way the next day if you found the cure you would know. I'm not sure what these other ones do so if you could record that it would be most helpful. You would take one each day so it would only last a week."

"No. I'm not doing it."

"I'll give you money!"

"I don't need money."

"Please, I'll give you anything. You must want something."

Nate paused and started into the dark liquid in the mug. Yes, there was something he wanted but he could never get it back. He wanted Sophie back but he never could seem to get the words out.

"I'll get Sophie back for you!" Max blurted out.

Nate looked up at him. "And how would you do that?"

"If you do this test and act like you're dying when you call her you'll see if she really cares enough to come back. After that you have to make a move or she'll walk right back out the door."

Nate contemplated this situation for a little while. He eyed the bag with the 7 different types of pills in them. It was just one week and he'd get Sophie back. It was a sweet deal and he wanted to reach out and take it. So that's exactly what he did.

"I'll do it."

"Perfect! You'll have to go to my cabin in Targhee National Forest in Idaho for the test. It has to be very top secret."

"How did you get a cabin in a national forest?"

"That's a long story..."

Nate just nodded and sipped his coffee. If all went well he would see Sophie in a little over a week. Oh how he yearned to see her again. He wanted to hold her tight and kiss her on the lips. That would take time though. Now all he had to do was focus on finding this cure and taking these drugs for a week.

**Part 2:**

Sophie didn't know how long they had been running. She knew it had been almost an hour and they must've covered at least 3 miles. Finally they sat down on the ground to catch their breath. She watched as Nate pulled out a bottle of water and handed her one before grabbing his own. Her eyes wandered off into the forest and she could faintly hear him take something out of a bag and drink some of his water.

"What did you just eat?"

"I was taking some medicine."

Sophie looked over to him only to see he had his back facing her. "What did you take?"

"Just some acetaminophen."

Sophie nodded and then crawled over to sit in front of Nate. "Why are you in-" she stopped short when she saw the blood all over his face and the chemical burn on his hand. "Wha-what happened?"

"I was in so much pain that I started slamming myself into the wall," he said as he moved his hair out of his face so she could see the cuts on his forehead. "I dropped something and it got on my hand...I think it was lye."

"Oh my god Nathan! Why were you in so much pain?" Sophie asked as the concern, worry, and sadness filled her voice. She could feel the tears sting her eyes and she blinked them back.

"Please I don't want to talk about it. I'm just waiting for this to kick in so my head will clear up."

"We should at least keep walking."

Nate nodded and grabbed his stuff off the ground. She looked at him with her eyes full of sadness and concern before following after him. What had happened? What had he done to himself? But most importantly what was this bad favor that he was doing for his friend?

**Part 3: **

Hardison had gotten the first helicopter he could and they were all packing something for the quick trip. Eliot was packing stuff for the worst-case medical situation while Parker packed food and Hardison packed any sort of technology thing he assumed he'd need. Hardison was the first one to be done packing so he started doing more research about Targhee National Forest. The place was a huge national forest that stretched across a few different states just like Yellowstone. It was mainly a forest used for hiking. According to the coordinates he was close to the southeast border between Idaho and Montana. There was also a creek and a lake around the area and a large portion of open land where Hardison assumed the helicopter had landed. He also assumed that this is why the fire didn't spread that far ahead. The news was playing in the background and the sudden break made him snap his head up.

_'There no corpses that have been found. Whoever started this fire made it out alive and we will be sending search crews out to find them.' _

This was a small relief for the Hitter, Hacker, and Thief but they were determined to find their friend before the search crew.

"Sophie's flight landed about 20 minutes ago...I'm gonna call her and tell her to met us there," Hardison said as he brought his phone out. He dialed Sophie's number and brought it up to his ear.

"I'm so sorry!" was the first thing Sophie blurted out.

"Why?"

"I completely forgot to call you guys!"

"That's why I'm calling you..."

"No! I-I'm here with Nate."

"Wait-what?" Hardison nearly yelled as he put it on speaker and motioned everyone over.

"After you guys ended the video chat someone slipped a paper underneath my door that said they're GPS coordinates. I'm with Nate now."

"We've been working all through the night Sophie! When did you find out?"

"About 5 minutes after you guys hung up the video chat"

"How far are you guys from the fire?" Eliot demanded.

"Maybe 3 and a half miles from where Nate was staying. We're sitting down by some rocks right now."

"They have search groups out-"

Parker abruptly cut Eliot off. "How's Nate? He sounded like he was dying when we heard from him."

She heard Sophie take a deep breath. "There's blood and cuts all over his head because he apparently had been slamming himself into the wall. And he has a chemical burn on his hand and he said that he thought it was lye. He said he was in pain and took some medicine once we got about 3 miles away."

They all looked at each other with fear, worry, and sadness in their eyes. What had gotten into him? Could they help him?

"Just so you know there's a search group out looking for whoever started that fire," Eliot finally said.

"Good! At least then we can get out of here."

"Sophie, why didn't you tell us when you found out?" Hardison asked.

"I was so focused on getting to Nate I forgot I just couldn't lose him and he needed someone ASAP. I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just wanted to help him!"

**Part 4: **

The team had finally managed to get Sophie to calm down. Almost 40 minutes had passed since Sophie had first looked at Nate. The image was burned into her mind and it made her shiver. He had his back turned to her yet again as he stared at the boulder across from him. Sophie was sitting on the ledge of one of the boulders about 15 feet away from him. Parker was jabbering on in her ear as Sophie stared off into the distance.

Nate was spinning his pocketknife around in his fingers as he zoned out. Sophie had ended up ripping the sleeves off one of his shirts to bandage his hand up. He knew that the next drug would kick in soon and he wasn't sure what would happen. The strength was returning to his body slowly and the pain was ebbing away. He knew that he would have to talk with Sophie soon. He wanted to hold her in his arms but he was ashamed of what he looked like. That's why he had barely looked at her because he didn't want her to see what he had done to himself. It was all her fault! If she wouldn't have left the team this wouldn't have happened. Why did he let her leave? He should've forced her to stay. She was a coward to just walk away like that. Maybe not a coward for her reason to walk away, but walking away from him in that graveyard. That was weak. He wanted to scream at her to man up. A growl was building up in his throat as the thoughts ripped through his mind like poison. Nate whipped a stone at the rock with all his force causing it to shatter into bits.

"I'll make you pay!" He roared in anger as he rose to his feet, his blade flipped out and his grip tight.

**Surprise there's 4 parts! What do you guys think will happen next?**


	5. It Boils Down to This

**So sorry I haven't updated in a while…I kind of forgot. I also just realized this chapter has 2 parts (sorry about that) I don't own Leverage**

_It Boils Down to This _

**Part 1: **

Sophie was tired of hearing about how boring the helicopter ride was and how odd Tara was so she abruptly cut her off. "Parker, please stop! I really don't care."

There was a huff from Parker on the other end. "Fine. So how's Nate?"

"He's been acting odd since I got here," she shook her head as she eyed him. "I don't know he just doesn't seem right."

"Do you think he may've hit his head too hard?"

"No. It's like he's off in some dreamland or whatever..."

"Do you think he may just be tired?"

"No, he doesn't look tired."

"What do you think's up with him?"

"I don't know...He's talking kind of slow and he won't look at me."

"Maybe it was his reaction from the chemical burn."

"Possibly."

"I'll make you pay!" She suddenly heard Nate yell as he rose to his feet. The rock he had thrown shattered into bits and she froze. What the hell was going on?

"Okay, something is definitely wrong with him," Sophie said quickly.

Parker was quiet for a moment. "Have you ever seen someone on drugs?"

"No..."

"When I was in the foster system sometimes I saw people do drugs. It wasn't that often because I tried to avoid them but they wouldn't always be focused." She paused again. "Like something wasn't quite right with them."

"Do you think Nate is on drugs?" Sophie asked hesitantly. She watched as Nate stood there, most likely glaring at something in his imagination and muttering something under his breath.

"Yes."

Sophie shook her head. "No. Nope. There is no way he'd ever do drugs. Uh-uh. He may be an alcoholic but he does not do drugs."

"Sophie!" Parker snapped at her. "You know this isn't how he acts when he's drunk. He's on something!"

She watched as he turned around slowly to look at her. His lips were moving and she heard his words grow louder and louder and until she heard his words loud and clear.

"I'll make you pay. I'll make you pay. I'll make you pay. I'll make you pay." The words were repeated over and over. Sophie watched as his now crazy dark blue eyes locked on hers. She caught the glint of his blade in the sunlight and she gasped sharply.

"Sophie!"

"Yeah, P-Parker?"

"You need to think if he's taken anything that could have caused this!"

Sophie quickly closed her eyes as she forced herself to recall the events of earlier that day.

**~FLASHBACK~**

_Her eyes wandered off into the forest and she could faintly hear him take something out of a bag and drink some of his water._

_"What did you just eat?" _

_"I was taking some medicine." _

_Sophie looked over to him only to see he had his back facing her. "What did you take?" _

_"Just some acetaminophen."_

**~END OF FLASHBACK~**

When she opened her eyes Nate was no longer in her line of vision. She gasped again and spun around to try and find him. He was standing at the end of the boulder she was sitting on with a dead look in his eyes.

"He took a pill about 45 minutes ago. I think it just kicked in," She replied in a shaky voice. With each heavy step he took she wanted to scream and run.

"What is it?" Parker demanded.

"I think the pill made him have homicidal thoughts...and possibly actions."

**Part 2: **

Parker couldn't hear what was going on except the panicked breathing of Sophie. She couldn't faintly hear the words 'Make you pay.'

"Nate, what's going on?" She heard Sophie demand in a shaky voice. "Nathan, put the knife down please."

There was another span of silence and the sudden screech of an animal. Parker was starting to get scared. What was going on? What would happen to her?

Her thoughts were suddenly cut off when Sophie screamed. "You just killed a squirrel!"

Another long span of silence and then she heard running. She was running now. "What's going on?" Parker demanded.

There was more sounds of running and some sort of yelling from Nate. Parker liked to think that maybe Sophie would get away. Suddenly there was a loud thump and crack.

"SOPHIE!" Parker suddenly screamed, jumping out of her seat. Eliot and Hardison both whipped around now to see Parker. She furiously put it on speaker phone for them to hear.

"Nate, p-please don't. You have to snap out of this," Sophie said between deep breaths. "Wait-no!" The words slowly got fainter as the phone was either taken of dropped.

"I really must thank Max for helping me out. Sophie would've never come here without his help. I'm also surprised Sophie came by herself," he paused. "I guess that makes it all the better."

"We're on our way Nate. You don't have to worry. We'll bring you back."

Another pause and that was followed by the crescendo of sadistic laughing. "May I remind you that your friend always ends up being your enemy in the end. So you better hope you get here before she's dead."

Those were the last words before the line went static leaving the Hitter, Hacker, and Thief stunned.


	6. Be Hurt or Be Dead

**Here's the next chapter! Get ready for some crazy Nate ;) I don't own leverage**

_Be Hurt or Be Dead_

**Part 1: **

The three of them stared at each other with shocked faces as their minds registered Nates words. Parker knew that this was coming. Maybe not that particular, um, personality you could say but something crazy at least. Hardison was confused by the masterminds words but there was also an anger boiling within him. Nate wanted to hurt Sophie. He wanted to kill her. But why? Eliot, on the other hand, wanted to get to Sophie as fast as he could

"What's going on?" Eliot asked slowly.

"Sophie and I think we figured out what's going on."

"What?" The two demanded.

"Sophie said that Nate hadn't been acting right like he was off in dreamland. She said he was talking slow and wouldn't look at her. When I was in the foster system I saw people on drugs and they always acted a little off-"

"-you ain't saying what I think you're saying..."

"We think Nate's on drugs."

The two stared at her, blinking a few times. Eliot didn't want to believe it - he couldn't believe it. Yet, it seemed to be a realistic answer. Hardison wanted to completely deny it but he had heard what Nate had said and was forced to believe it. Parker was just praying to God that Nate didn't hurt her.

"We have to find out more!" Eliot suddenly demanded. "Hardison get me everything you can on Nates whereabouts in the past few weeks and anything else that may be useful. Parker you help him while I devise a plan to calm him down and bring him back."

"No Eliot, listen to me," Parker said in a tone she rarely ever used. She only used it when she meant serious business. "He's not injecting anything into himself or smoking anything. This drug we're talking about is a pill. When we first heard from Nate he sounded like he was dying. Sophie said that he has been in so much pain that he had been slamming himself into the wall. Now when I was talking to Sophie she said he was a little off. You know, responding slow and not really focused. Suddenly he turns into this crazy wacko killer who wants to kill Sophie. What I think is going on is that he took one pill that put him through this horrible pain. When it wore off his mind was groggy and slow. Now that he took this other one the effects have kicked in. It just so happens that this effect is homicidal actions."

"That makes...perfect sense, Parker," Eliot said slowly.

"I've got some information guys," Hardison said as he waved them over. Quickly the two of them huddled around him. "Nate went on a trip to New York just 3 days ago. While he was there he went to this apartment building." A picture came up on the screen of the building. "I'm doin' my best but it's gonna to take me a little while to track him through the security footage so I can find the room. Then once I find out who lives there I'll do a background check. That'll be about all I can do though."

"Do your best man. We need everything we can get."

With a nod Hardison went back to working and Eliot and Parker both sat down. She tapped her foot impatiently while Eliot internally tried to calm his mind down. There was so much unknown information and so little known information. Their connection with Nate and Sophie was gone and Sophie was in a lot of danger. To make things worse NATE was the danger! Now they were stuck in a helicopter trying to get there as fast as they could before someone got seriously hurt. Or worse - died.

**Part 2: **

Nate had finally let go of her throat but that only brought some relief. Next thing she knew he had pinned her arm behind her back and held his knife to her throat.

"You want to talk don't you?" He asked in a voice that sounded possessed by the Devil.

"Mhm."

"Fine, you have 5 minutes," He said before pushing her away.

Sophie gasped for breath, rubbing her shoulder, which throbbed in pain. He respectively put his knife back in his pocket and crossed his arms.

"What's going on?"

"Why do you care?"

"I care because you want to kill me!"

He shrugged in a way that said 'I don't care.'

"Why are you doing drugs?"

She saw his body stiffen and his jaw clench at her words. She didn't back down though. "What are you doing?"

"I'm doing this for you," he spat, taking a long stride towards her.

"For me? What in the world makes you think I'd want you to do drugs?"

"This was to get you back. I'm doing this to get you back."

"So you did this just to get me back? You walk in blind to talking drugs that could ruin you for the rest of your life just to get me back?"

He nodded, his eyes dark blue with an unknown rage.

"Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm determined."

"I don't want you to be taking drugs Nate!" She screamed at him.

Suddenly her back hit the ground as Nate sweeped her leg from underneath her. She coughed and spluttered as the wind was knocked out of her. He leaned down to look at her, his head tilted to the side, and his eyes blank.

"Shut. Up."

"What is your problem?" She coughed out as she went to sit up. Suddenly he grabbed her throat and pushed her back down on the ground.

"Don't you get it yet? Don't you get what I'm doing?"

She dug her nails into his arm causing him to bleed. He didn't do so much as flinch at the pain. Gathering all of the strength that was slowly draining from his body she pushed his hand from her throat. He growled at the lost control but reluctantly yanked his hand back.

"No, I don't get what you're doing!"

"Maybe you should figure it out!" Nate yelled as he yanked her to her feet, holding her a good three inches off the ground.

She whimpered at the fact she didn't have her feet on the ground. Her eyes were wide with fright as she looked into his ruthless eyes - the ones that had been filled with comfort just months earlier. Slowly he lowered her to the ground and took a few steps back. She almost let out a breath of relief when she thought that she had gotten a break from evil Nate. That thought was literally knocked out of her when he threw a hard punch straight at her jaw. The impact caused her to stumble back as blood trickled down her chin from the cut on her lip.

"Everyday I'll take a different drug that will make me act differently. I don't know what they'll do to me but I do know one is the cure." He took a step toward her. "Until then-" another step "-you'll just-" another step "-have to-" another step "-survive."

With his face inches from hers and his eyes full of a fake anger she spun around and ran for her life.

**Part 3: **

An hour passed in a tense silence. Hardison was deep in his computer as he worked as fast as he could. Parker was still nervous and Eliot was dead silent. She could tell he was deep in thought and deep in planning. It was a face she had often seen on Nate. Suddenly Hardison looked over at them withe wide yes.

"Parker's right."

"I am?"

"He went to go visit a man name Max Jenkins. Max works for a pharmaceutical company and creates drugs. Make what you want of that but it seems really plausible that Parker's right."

Eliot and Parker both nodded slowly as they took in the information. "What do we do when we get there?" Hardison asked firmly.

"We pray to god that Sophie or anyone else hasn't been hurt by Nates actions. Then I'll knock Nate out and sedate him so he won't wake up until we get to the nearest hospital. Once we get there the doctors will take a look at him and do the nessecary procedures to fix him."

"Do you think he'll remember what happened once the doctors fix him?" Hardison asked.

"Maybe. I'm not sure what these drugs are and what the after-affects are."

"Hardison, can you please get me Maxs number?" Parker asked in a smooth voice. She was determined to get to the bottom of what was going on.

Hardison nodded and pulled up the number for her before dialing it on his phone. He handed it to her and she took it with a nod.

"Hello?" Came the mans voice.

"Hello there Max Jenkins. My name is Parker and I am a close friend of Nate Fords. I have a few questions for you."


	7. A Boiling Anger

**I'm glad you guys think that Nate is scary enough! I didn't want him to make him sooo crazy but still scary. I don't own Leverage.**

_A Boiling Anger_

**Part 1: **

Max had been in the middle of trying to sleep on his flight back to London when his phone rang. He didn't want to answer it but he figured it might be important. Without even looking at who it was calling he answered it with the most pleasant voice he could manage.

"Hello?"

"Hello there Max Jenkins. My name is Parker and I am a close friend of Nate Fords. I have a few questions for you."

"Oh, you're a friend of Nates," Max smiled. "What can I do for you."

Parker held back a growl at his cheery tone. "You will tell me everything and anything you know about your most recent interaction with Nate. We know he's in Targhee National Forest. We know about the drugs."

"Well then what are you asking me about, Parker?" Max became confused for her words were sharp and quick.

"Why did you send him into the middle of nowhere with drugs that he has no idea what they do?" Parker growled. She furious at this man.

"He didn't tell you?"

"No, he told us nothing. We've slowly been putting together the pieces over the past day. We're on our way to save him now."

"No! He must finish the trial and find the cure," Max replied hurriedly.

"What trial? What cure?"

"There are seven different pills and one is the cure. I told him to take a specific one the first day because it was supposed to give him a mild pain-"

"Mild pain? He was in so much pain he literally started slamming himself into the wall!" Parker nearly yelled. The anger was like a fire clawing at her from he inside. She wanted this man to pay for what he'd done.

"May-maybe his body reacted differently then most peoples. He could've been allergic to something in it..."

"Why did he even agree to do this in the first place?"

"I told him...I told him I would get Sophie back."

There was a few moments of silence. "Are you the one that told her they were GPS coordinates?"

"Yes," he answered gravely. "We had done a little planning on how to get her back and that was what we settled on."

"He's trying to kill her right now!" Parker flat out yelled.

Max flinched as her words came blaring through the phone. "P-probably a drug that gives people homicidal thoughts and actions."

"When we get there we're taking him back and getting him to a hospital you sick bastard."

"I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm sorry! Once I get back to New York I'll head straight over there."

Parker snarled at the mans words. "I hope your plane crashes and burns." With that she hung up the phone and looked at them all with anger and determination.

**Part 2:**

She ran for about 45 minutes before Nate caught up with her and literally tackled her. It was like playing rugby with her bothers all over again. He managed to punch her in the face and get a cut on her arm. She was able to grab a large stick off the ground the knock him out before he could do anymore damage. Sophie made sure she had her stuff before running off in the other direction. Once she was sure she was far enough away from him she settled down behind a rock to catch her breath. She ate some food and drank a whole bottle of water and was dozing off when he showed up again. Her internal clock said that he had been unconscious for about a half hour. She looked at him and he looked at her. His eyes were still full of unknown rage as he flipped his blade out at her. She took that as her cue to start running again. They ran and ran until Sophie scrambled up onto a sharp and pointy boulder. Nate grabbed her and forced her down onto the boulder. He forced her to open her mouth and bite the edge. She knew he was about to make her bite the curb (or bite the boulder in this case) and quickly moved out from under him. His foot crashed into the edge and he cursed in pain. Thinking fast, she scrambled off the boulder and resumed running.

They had been running and chasing each other for almost an hour now. She saw the trees start to thin as she pushed the bramble away from her face. Nate was dangerously close behind but she stumbled out into the open field and was able to run a little faster. She saw a large stream and a generously sized waterfall on the right. It would be a hard obstacle to overcome since Nate was chasing her. Just as the thought was pushed into the back of her head she heard Him fall. She didn't stop running until she heard vomiting and coughing. When she looked back she saw him coughing up blood.

"Nate!" Sopie ran over to him. "Nate, are you okay?"

He continued to cough up more blood, spattering it over the ground and his hands. The homicidal thoughts slowly were dissipating from his mind and he began to feel weak. He felt Sophies hand on his shoulder as his body shook and convulsed.

"Nate, please say something. Please say you're okay," Sophie cried.

He groaned in pain, looking over at her. She saw his eyes were a light grayish blue now, blood splattered on his face. "I'll be alright."

"Did the drug wear off?"

He nodded and sat up. "I feel like crap."

"The team is coming for us and we'll be getting you to a hospital soon."

"No! I have to finish this trial. Please Sophie you have to trust me."

Sophie have him a stern looking, telling him that he'd have to do better then that.

"Take this and do not be afraid to use it if I get out of hand," Nate said as he handed her his pocketknife.

"No, no I couldn't do that to you."

"You have to trust me."

"If you don't find the cure in the next two tries I'm having the doctors take care of you."

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Now go get yourself cleaned up and then we can eat and get some rest. We have about 2 hours of daylight left."

"Where am I supposed to get cleaned up?"

Sophie motioned over to the river with her head. He just looked at her with slightly wide eyes. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"You're a boyscout tough it up!"

"But I-"

"God Nate it's not like I'll be watching you," Sophie said. Although, the little voices in the back of her head were saying 'yes I will!'

He contemplated the thought one last time before deciding it would be best if he did get cleaned up. Grumbling about woman and their crazy ideas he headed over to the river, taking his shirt off as he went.

**Part 3: **

Eliot was surprised by how Parker reacted. He didn't know what was going on the other side of the phone but it was obviously making her furious. It wasn't until those last words that he knew she was just as (maybe more) committed to finding and saving Nate as he was. He knew Hardison was thoroughly committed because of the excessive amount of work he was doing and the way his whole aura changed. It was almost surreal how different the hacker was.

"So what did Jenkins say?"

Parker proceeded to tell them how the phone call had gone. She described how his voice sounded and how he was so naive. They could hear the anger still in her voice as she raged on. Hardison was pensive and quiet as he listened while Eliot let the anger crawl over his face and eat him up on the inside. He knew his calm demeanor would be the next to go as he felt the rage towards Max build. Once she was done with her dramatic and poetic story telling Hardison went to check their progress on the flight.

"We have about 3 hours left."

"It's getting dark out so we'll have to stop for the night until we can search for him in the daytime," Eliot said as he looked out the window. He saw the pink glow of the setting sun soon fade into a deep dark blue and he knew somewhere far out there was Nate and Sophie all alone by themselves. All alone in the wilderness.


	8. Introduce The Game Changer

**This one has more Nate and Sophie in it just so you know. I don't own Leverage!**

_Introduce The Game Changer_

**Part 1:**

Sophie had managed to scrounge up some food that would suffice for them for the night. He didn't have much that he had brought with him so she decided that peanut butter sandwiches and canned fruit would have to do.

"Ew, who eats spam?" She muttered as she dug through his bag.

"Uh, hey Soph can you, uh, bring me some clothes?" Nate called over to her.

"Sure," She called back. It then hit her that he wasn't going to be wearing anything at all. Half of her was screaming don't turn around and the other half was screaming yes turn around. She grabbed the first pair of shorts and shirt she saw and quickly got off the ground. When she turned around she immediately felt the effect. He was naked and standing in a river (lucky for her the water was a little over waist deep and it was dusk and he was in the shadows making the water dark) Still...it was bad. Shaking the thoughts from her head she went over and set the clothes close to the edge of the water. She could see his face was red in embarrassment and she was sure hers was the same. In that same moment she saw the bruises on his body and a few cuts. That image was also burned into her mind as she walked back over to their stuff.

A few minutes later he came over to her wearing clothes. She had packed up the stuff and handed him his bag and took hers.

"We should get walking before the night hits. Once we find a cave or another type of shelter we can sit down and eat."

"Lead the way."

He started heading off towards the west, which was in the direction of the waterfall. They followed the rocky cliff for a while until it started to slope down. As it the rocky formation started to melt into the ground they found a cave. It was small and shallow but was enough room for at least 2 people to lay comfortably. However, they had all their stuff with them so it would be a pretty tight fit. They put their stuff in the small cave and then sat on the ground with the food. For now they would sit in peace until one of them decided to speak.

**Part 2:**

"I'm sorry about everything that's happened, Sophie," Nate finally said. "I feel awful about all this pain you had to go through. I mean...I almost killed you."

"I know you're sorry Nate and I know you feel awful. But you know this is what happens though...you walk out on someone...you walk out on your team and it all comes back to get you." She took a bite of her sandwich and looked over at the sinking sun.

"It hurts Sophie when-when someone...someone you give a damn about leaves you."

His words stung in her mind and stung her eyes. She couldn't force herself to look at him; she was too ashamed. His fingers gently tilted her head to the side so he would look at her.

"I'm sorry I left Nate. None of this would've ever happened if I would have stayed."

"Could've, should've, would've."

She shot him a glare but to her surprise he didn't smirk. His face turned serious and without an ounce of hesitation he took her hand in his.

"It's the past now and this is the present. We're going to need each other more then ever because right now who walked out on what or how our emotions got in the way doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that we're in the middle of nowhere and we have to survive."

Sophie could hear every ounce of love and conviction in his voice. Even if it wasn't a romantic or sexual type of love it was one of pure friendship and caring. "I agree. And I couldn't think of anyone better to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with."

"Eliot maybe," he muttered.

"Nope, not even him," Sophie said with a small smile. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her with confusion etched on his face. She leaned over to him, her eyes slipping shut as she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. A little shocked by her own action she pulled away. He slowly recovered, his eyes opening to see her avoiding his gaze.

"I'm sorry that was out of line of me. I shouldn't have kissed you. You probably-" She was cut off when he kissed her again. This time she moaned a little as he forced her mouth open. The feeling over his tongue grazing over hers sent electric jolts all over her body. They only pulled away when they were gasping for breath. Maybe it was romantic love she had heard in his voice earlier...

"Oh Nate," She gasped quietly as she stayed close to him.

"Let's get some rest."

**Part 3: **

The helicopter had landed at 11:30 at night and all four (pilot included) went off to the nearest hotel. The pilots name was Frank Larson and he said that he would take them out again the next day. Eliot, who was sleepy but determined, agreed and told him to just book a room in the same hotel and they'd meet up in the morning. They all crashed once they got to bed but their sleep was anything but peaceful. Parker had fast paced nightmares about Nate chasing Sophie that were filled with blood and gore. Hardison kept having images of flames and robots attacking him flashing through his mind. Eliot only slept 90 minutes (because that's how long he always slept) and was bombarded with a dream about the one time he was chased in the woods. While he was up at 3 in the morning carefully and strategically planning he heard someone running by his room. He shrugged the thought off and went back to planning.

Early the next morning everyone was evacuated from the hotel. The most unexpected thing had happened the night before and the hotel couldn't risk anything else happening. After the owner managed to get everyone to quiet down he announced that there had been a murder the night before. They did not know who it was but it was messy. The police were investigating as they little announcement went on. So far nobody had a solid lead.

"The victim was staying in room 334."

Eliot then watched as people who had been by that room were taken away to be questioned. Once the crowd thinned Eliot went over to the owner. "Can you please tell me who the victim was, Sir?"

"That information is not for public release yet."

Parker and Hardison then came up next to Eliot. "Where's Frank? Hardison and I can't find him anywhere."

Eliot looked at Parker and the back at the owner. "Sir, was the victim Frank Larson?"

"Yes," he replied tersely before walking away. Eliot slowly turned around to look at the Thief and Hacker.

"Our pilot was murdered."

"Why?" Hardison asked. "He wasn't a bad man. What good would it have done if he was dead?"

"More importantly now we don't have a pilot to man the helicopter so we can go search for Nate and Sophie."

"I don't know guys," Eliot replied with a distant expression. "We're going to find out though. We're going to get Nate and Sophie back and in the meantime solve this murder."

"Eliot, why don't we just have the police take care of it? Right now it's not our biggest worry," Hardison said curtly.

"Something just doesn't seem right...like we're missing a piece of the puzzle."

"Hardison's right Eliot," Parker said.

"I have a gut feeling guys," He snapped back, "you're just gonna have to trust me."

**Ooh, the pilot is dead! Hmmm something fishy is going on here. Who killed him? Why did someone kill him? What's going to happen with Nate and Sophies relationship? What will be the effect of the next pill? Questions…questions…**


	9. A Dreadful Morning

**I really really need to be updating this faster. Sorry!**

_A Dreadful Morning_

**Part 1: **

Dawn and Dusk quickly left after the evacuation of the hotel. They could not waste a second and quickly went back to their house. Once there they threw on their hiking gear and grabbed everything they would need for the rest of the day. It was a quick commute to the RV campground from where they lived. Once there they headed off west into the woods.

"The plan is going well so far," Dawn said as they walked.

"I'm sure he'll be pleased with our progress."

"Yeah, probably. I'm just really glad we were able to get that information out of Larson. Without it I don't think we ever would've found where they were."

"Well, we already knew where they were," Dusk reminded her, "we just didn't know exactly where they were."

"Oh blah blah."

"So once we get them back we go after the others. We turn them in and profit."

"What if they're dead?" Dawn wondered as they climbed over a collection of boulders. "Their intestines eaten out by vultures."

Dusk sighed and looked at his sister. "You were always more morbid then me."

"Or they were attacked by bears and wolves and are now just tiny human chunks!"

"Dawn!"

"I'm just saying."

"If they're dead then the whole plan is ruined! We have to find them first."

Dawn sighed as she looked into the vast forest that spread out in front of them. "Well then we better start looking. It's going to be a long day."

**Part 2: **

The three of them managed to get in as FBI agents in the crime scene. While there they worked on getting their hands on as much information as possible. Since the murder had just happened in the morning Hardison couldn't find any information on the web or through technology. Right now all the information was handwritten or spoken and had to be extracted first-hand. Eliot confirmed that someone had snapped his neck using all torque. It was surely a murder. Right now the police knew as much as they did, which was not helping. Hardison proceeded to do some more in depth research on the pilot while Parker followed Eliot around.

"Eliot, I know that you want to take care of the murder right now but we need to find Nate and Sophie. And I know you want us to trust you but I can't just keep waiting around while they're stuck out there."

Eliot was quiet for a while as he looked out the window. Over the buildings of the city he saw the deep and daring forest on the beyond. "Something just doesn't seem right."

Parker scanned his face, trying to figure anything out. "What do you mean?"

"Why kill the pilot now? What advantage would they have in doing it?"

"It would post-pone us from finding Nate and Sophie...keep us from finding them until they die..."

Eliot let a deep growl rise in the back of his throat and went over to the officer. "Sir, can you please tell me if there is any sort of trail or entrance to the national forest by where that forest fire was?"

The officer thought for a second. "There's an RV campground. It's not that close but it's as close as you'll get."

"How far do you know?"

"Maybe 21 miles."

Eliot nodded and quickly went over to Hardison, shaking his shoulder. He looked up at him with a confused expression. Parker was next to both of them in a second.

"I figured out the missing piece."

Nobody bothered to ask what it was because in that moment they dashed from the crime scene and down to the car. Parker took the wheel and Hardison started getting another private helicopter to go off and search for them.

"Hardison, don't worry I got it covered," Eliot said quickly. He watched as Eliot pulled out his phone and and started talking in fluent Hebrew. Once Eliot hung up he directed Parker to a private airfield.

"My buddy Ollie is going to be our pilot for this trip. He's a badass fighter so if we run into any trouble we have some more back-up."

"Eliot," Parker said sternly, "what's the missing piece."

"Someone's out to kill Nate and Sophie."

"What?" Parker and Hardison both said simultaneously.

"Whoever this is knew that he'd be in a secluded location and knew he would be vulnerable. And whoever killed Frank wanted information and they wanted to post-pone us from getting to them. We can assume that they're travelling by foot but we don't know. Right now we just have to pray that we get to them before they do."

**Part 3: **

Sophie woke up early the next day and snuck out from the small alcove. Nate had his arm around her protectively but he was in such a deep sleep he didn't notice. Her body was sore from sleeping on the ground and her legs felt like someone had burned them. It hurt with every step she took but she pushed through it. The sun was already almost all the way over the horizon and it created a soft yellow glow that blended into the soft blue of the sky. She sat down on the long grass and stared off into the woods. A bunny scampered by and she smiled. Her mind wandered off to the team and she wondered what they were doing. She wondered where they were and how close they were to finding them. All she wanted to do was go home and be safe.

Nate was jolted awake when someone roughly shook his shoulder. He groaned at being woken up and rolled over to look at them. When he opened his eyes enough he Sophie smiling down at him. The sun was lighting her up from behind giving her almost the essence of an angle. Sophie an angle? The thought made him smile.

"C'mon sleepy head we need to get moving."

He nodded and stood up, yawning deeply before handing Sophie her bag and grabbing his own. They walked for a little while to shake off the exhaustion and get their bodies moving. After about 20 minutes he stopped and started rummaging through his bag.

"You still have my pocketknife?"

"Mhm."

"Remember, don't be afraid to use it if I get out of hand. Just please...don't aim to kill me."

"I would never aim to kill you! If you get out of hand and don't...respond to the knife I'm-I'm knocking you unconscious."

"Alright, pick one," He said as he held up the bag holding the five remaining pills.

"Me? Oh, um, hmmm...that one!" She exclaimed, pointing to the silver gel pill.

"Please don't let this be bad," He muttered under his breath before taking the pill. She watched nervously and let her mind think of all the possible things it would do. If there was anything worse then homicidal Nate then that would be very very bad. As they walked Nate seemed pretty normal; quiet and contained.

He watched the way she walked and the way her body moved. An angry sort of passion was starting to take over. Now he couldn't just stand for a kiss. He wanted more. He wanted all of her.

She started to notice his body language start to change. He was staring at her now, almost trying to look into her soul. She didn't dare meet his eyes for fear she'd see this fake beast. It was fake and it didn't last long but that didn't mean his actions didn't happen in reality.

Nate would make her want the sadistic side of him. He would show her just how rough he could be with her. Unable to deny his body of this flaming desire anymore he roughly grabbed Sophie and kissed her. He bit at her bottom lip so hard he drew blood causing her to roughly push him away. Her blood was on his lips and his face but she didn't register it as she clutched onto her mouth. She spit out some blood and wiped her face off with the back of her hand.

"Nate, what was tha..." She trailed off when she remembered that this was the drug speaking and acting. No...no it couldn't be. Please...just don't let it be that.

"It is not hate nor greed

Not anger nor fear

for there are things in the world

that are far far Worse

you think it's just a facade,

But it's not - he's just insane

do you know what this man is?

He is the only thing worse,

He is love

And love is a psychopath."

Sophie swallowed hard. The scars would be reopened but this time not by someone she hated, but by someone she loved.

**So that poem at the end was inspired by Jekyll (the one Gina starred in) because the like 'tag' for the show is love is a psychopath. I don't own Leverage!**


	10. A Tainted Savior

**Happy return of leverage! I would've updated yesterday but I got roped into some family stuff. I don't own Leverage.**

_A Tainted Savior _

**Part 1: **

Dawn and Dusk were sitting on large cliff looking out over the forest. They were sitting and eating some food before continuing on with their search. Dawn was going strong while Dusk was tired. Their mother Midnight had given birth to Dawn at dawn and Dusk at dusk. The woman herself had been born at midnight. Anyway, Dawn was always strongest during the daylight while Dusk was strong during the night. The only slept during sunrise and sunset. Right now it was the day and Dusk was weaker the Dawn. This made things more difficult because he was usually the leader since most of their murders happened at night. The death of Frank Larson for example was when Dusk was in charge and Dawn asked the questions.

"Who do you think this Max guy is?" Dawn asked.

"No idea."

"Do you think he may've been the one to send Ford out here?"

"Probably," Dusk answered with a shrug. He was a smart man and didn't need to know much to fit the pieces together but this was a little confusing. He assumed it was confusing because they had so little information. All they knew was that their client knew that Nate Ford and Sophie Devereaux are in a secluded location and Ford is vulnerable and he knows they're in Idaho. What he learned from the pilot was that they rest of his team was searching for them in Targhee National Forest in southeast Idaho. Ironically, they had a house that they obtained near there. It was about an hours drive to their house from the hotel using their secret way. Normally it would take about 2 hours. Then from there to campground about an hour and a half. In relevance to how long they usually travelled it was a quick commute.

"Dusk, can we cut them up?" Dawn asked in begging tone.

He shot her a glare. "We're turning them into the police."

"I always forget that! Why does he have to ruin all the fun?"

"He was very specific about not killing them. There will be no killing unless we are instructed otherwise."

"You and your stupid morals!" She snapped back before getting up to leave.

He got to his feet and went after her. "If I had morals I wouldn't be an assassin!"

She was about to snap back a response when a scream echoed through the air. Dawn raced to the edge to look for the source, thinking it was Devereaux.

"I think that was her."

"It was..." He replied slowly. "But she's farther away...it was an echo of her scream." Dawn turned back to look at him and saw his face contorted in thought. "We're close."

**Part 2: **

This time Sophie didn't run. She wasn't stuck to her stop in fright though. Nate wasn't attacking her but looking at her. She knew she couldn't talk him out of it so she tried to get a better feeling of what he was thinking.

"How are you?"

"Fine."

"What are you thinking about?"

He tilted his head to the side a little and then took one long stride towards her. Internally a warning bell was going off but she ignored it. He put his hands on her hip causing her to freeze. She tried to calm her body and her mind but the flashes of the past were flooding through her mind. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

"You think you can escape me this time but you can't. I'm worse then a killer because I won't leave you dead. I'll burn your mind with memories you can't ever forget. They'll haunt you forever."

Doing her best to regain her senses she kneed him in the crotch and them put her hips into a right hook. The force of the punch sent shock waves all up her arm but she quickly recovered. She flipped open his knife and held it out in front of her.

"Get away from me!"

"I don't think you want to mess with me," He said in a voice that made her skin crawl. In second he ripped the knife out of her hand and pressed his body close to hers. "You want it. You want it to hurt."

Sophie tried to squirm out of his grip but he had a firm hold on her. The images were flooding through her mind stronger now. The dark alley, the cold hands, his guttural voice, the stench of alcohol on his breath. An aftermath of bruises and scarring - her body truly violated.

"Nate, please don't do this," She cried softly.

"Fine! I'll spare you this time," He snarled. Sophie expected him to push her to the ground but instead his kissed her roughly. Despite how bad she wanted to run away she found herself kissing back. This was all she ever wanted...

"No!" She screamed as she pushed him away. Racking her brains she tried to think of something to get love-struck pyscho Nate to back off. "I'll leave you again!"

Little did she know she just set the bomb off.

Nates eyes went wide and he started growling, his chest heaving up and down. He grabbed the knife off the ground, eyes never leaving her. "You're not allowed to leave me. You have to love me." With a long step forward he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. "I'll kill anyone you run to if you don't love me. Say it! Say it or I won't spare you!"

The tears will falling down her face now. He would surely kill her if she didn't say it. "I-I love you," She sobbed.

"Say you'll let me have control!" He spat at her.

The burning sensation in her throat quickly became too much making her unable to speak. She tried to swallow it down and stop crying but the tears just kept coming faster. He was a psychopath.

"Say it!" Nate yelled at her. She shook her head no and continued to sob like the pathetic little human being she was. "No? No?"

It happened in seconds. She was sobbing and looking at his face contorted in fake rage one second. The next she felt a sharp, blinding pain in her stomach.

**Part 3: **

They were running now, trying to find Ford and Devereaux. If they didn't find them soon they could be dead. They need to get them back to civilization so they could turn them in. Dawn heard sobs becoming louder and louder as they ran but she thought it might be her imagination. Suddenly Dusk stopped and looked around.

"Do you hear that sobbing?"

"You hear that too? I thought that was just me."

"No...I think it's coming from over there," Dusk replied. He pointed to his right where he was almost positive the crying was coming from. As they walked it got louder. Soon they could see someone sitting on the ground and someone lying on the ground next to them. Dusk quickly realized that it was Devereaux and Ford. He gasped sharply when he saw Ford lying on the ground. The man looked dead.

"Hello?" Dawn called over to Devereaux.

She looked over at the people and instantly stopped crying. "Can you help us! We need to get to a hospital."

"What's going on? There's blood all over your face," Dusk asked, actually confused for once.

"Please don't ask. We just need to get to a hospital."

Dawn and Dusk looked at each other. This was not what they expected at all. Devereaux looked like she had been mauled by something and Ford was either dead or unconscious.

Sophie started trying to shake Nate to consciousness so they could get going. She shook him roughly a few times before his eyes flew open. He sat up and rubbed the side of his head, wincing at the tender area on his head.

"Soph?" He blinked a few times. "Sophie, please tell me that was a nightmare."

She shook her head no, eyes glossy with tears.

"You mean I...?"

"Yeah...yeah you did."

"I want to kill myself now," Nate breathed. He remembered what he did to her and it made him sick. It was absolutely horrific, disgusting, sick, and disturbing how he treated her. He would've never ever done those things had he been in his right mind. Those actions would stay with her and haunt her her whole life. It made him want to just die. The thoughts were only slightly pushed away when she kissed him lightly on the lips.

"How can you still do that after what I've done to you?"

"I'll explain later. Right now we need to get to the hospital."

"How in the world are we going to find our way out of here?"

Dawn and Dusk were baffled and confused at the scene. Their employer hadn't mentioned a relationship between the Grifter and Mastermind. They were also confused about what the hell was even going on. "Um...we were going to take you back..."

He then looked over at them. "Thank God. We need to get out of here now!"

"You guys look like a wreck," Dawn said slowly.

Dusk watched how they moved as they stood up. Devereaux was definitely injured and Ford looked like he had taken a rough beating.

"I'm Jenna and this is Mike."

"I'm Sophie and this is Nate."

"Nice to meet you," Dawn replied with a smile. They were a wreck and weak. Vulnerable. "It's only an hours walk back to the parking lot so it shouldn't take too long to get back."

"I don't know if I'll last that long," Sophie replied. She pulled her the black sweatshirt up to show them the blood seeping through her blue shirt into the stain already around most of her stomach.

"Mike, call 911 and the forest ranger now," Dawn said quickly.

Dusk did as he was told and started pacing back and forth. If they died now they wouldn't get paid. That was the one thing he feared would happen. She watched as Ford put his arms around her and comforted her. Something wasn't right but she couldn't put the pieces together. Once Dusk got off the phone 10 minutes later he went over to Sophie and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I know he stabbed you."

Sophie's face was blank as she shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "So?"

"Why did he stab you?"

"It's none of your business," She spat at him.

Nate turned to look at Dawn. "Can I please barrow your phone to call someone?"

She knew he meant one of them members in his team and she gratefully handed it over. With a thankful nod and a smile he dialed Eliots number.

"Hello?"

"Eliot, Parker, Hardison it's me Nate."

**Yay! Nate finally got in contact with them…what happens next? I don't know. You'll find out when I update this next ;)**


	11. A Strange Relationship

**I know it's getting confusing but you're just going to have to bear with me. All will be revealed in the end. I don't own Leverage (quit reminding me)**

_A Strange Relationship_

**Part 1:**

"YOU WHAT?" Eliot roared into the phone.

"I wasn't in my right mind! I didn't have control over my actions. I'm sorry. Please she just needs to get to a hospital."

"Is the knife still there?"

"No, I pulled it out." Nate shuddered as the words ran over his tongue. Why did he have to speak for that monster?

"Do you have anything you could you use to cover your hands?"

They procceded to talk about how to take care of her stab wound until they got there. Once they were done Nate said a brief hello and sorry to Parker and Hardison before hanging up. It had been a short but dreadful call. Nate hadn't given them any details but gone straight into stabbing Sophie because it was something that required immediate attention.

"Sophie can you please lay down?" He said softly as he kissed her forehead. With a small sigh she laid down on the ground. Nate rummaged through his bag until he found the shirt with the sleeves ripped off. He ripped it in half and squatted down next to her. He grabbed the plastic bags and then gently caressed her face. "I'm sorry about everything that happened. I'm sorry about what I did even though I couldn't control it. I should have never taken the offer." He took a deep breath and then glanced at Mike and Jenna ((Dusk and Dawn)). "I'll apologize more later."

"And I have a few things I want to say too."

He nodded. "Of course...of course. Now please lay still so I can move your clothes. I'm going to try and get the bleeding to stop as best I can."

"It's not a pretty sight," She warned him. He gently moved her sweatshirt up and was even more careful with her shirt because he didn't want it to stick to the wound. Putting the plastic bags over his hands (so he neither of them would get infected) he checked how severe the bleeding was. It was bad but it wasn't severe. He , being the one that stabbed her, knew where the wound was and was able to put the pressure to the correct artery. Sophie was groaning and wincing in pain as he poked and prodded. He got the wound dressed quickly but precisely.

"You should probably change your shirt."

"No way! I'm not taking my shirt off!"

Nate looked over at Mike and Jenna and then leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Did you forget about last night?"

She blushed when she remembered that he and been naked in the water. "Oh...yeah...that was..."

He knew she was going to let the question hang so he just moved on. "So are you going to put another shirt on or not?"

"Yeah. It'd probably be best since I've been wearing it for three days straight."

He helped her sweatshirt and shirt off, doing his best not to stress the stab wound. Yes, he did stare at her for just a second before grabbing her another shirt. Again, he did his best not to stress the stab wound as he helped her get her shirt on.

"Better?"

"Much. Thank you," She smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips. As they lay on the ground watching the sky there was another plan being brewed. And this time even bigger then the last.

**Part 2: **

Dawn ran her hand through her hair as she looked over at Ford and Devereaux. They were staring up at the sky and she swore that they were holding hands.

"So where do we go from here?"

"Well, if we can get the name of the hospital from their team then we can go there. I'm going on a hunch here but they seem pretty close so the team should be there for a while. That ought to give us enough time to set up the dominos."

"It's called the domino effect," Dawn said in a mock Italian voice.

"Seriously?"

She giggled and leaned on his shoulder. "Their relationship is...strange."

"Theirs?" Dusk inquired.

"Yeah. I mean he can almost kill her and she can still forgive him."

Dusk sighed and watched the two of them for a while. "Maybe we just don't know something."

"Are you suggesting that there's something bigger going on?"

Dusk eyed Ford and then his bag next to him. "I say we investigate."

"Me too!"

They walked over to Ford and Devereaux and he tapped him on the shoulder. "Do you guys have any water?"

"Huh? Oh yeah it's on the pocket on the left," Nate said quickly before looking over at Sophie.

With a quick look at Dawn they walked over to his bag. While Dawn dug around in the left pocket Dusk looked for something else. He found a bag with 4 different pills in it.

'Look!' He mouthed.

Dawns eyes went wide at the sight she grabbed a bottle of water making sure to make the plastic crackle. At the same time Dusk grabbed the bag and shoved it in his pocket.

"Thanks," Dawn said.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Rude," She muttered under her breath. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know..." Dusk sat down and thought for a while. "Maybe...and this is just another hunch...maybe he's on drugs."

"Do you think?"

"It would explain the strange behavior."

"But...it just seems odd..."

"I don't know...we'll just have to wait and find out more."

**Part 3:**

Parker was grinning widely after the call ended. "They're alive and we're going to save them!"

"Don't you get it Parker? Nate stabbed Sophie!" Eliot growled at her.

"Yeah but that's because Nate was - " She whistled and gestured to her ear signaling that he was crazy.

"It doesn't matter! She's going to be scarred for life because he's tried to kill her."

They were fairly silent for a while they waited to zero in on their coordinates. This time Hardison had been able to track the phone and was easily able to find their coordinates because they were only a few hours away in the car. By airplane though it would only take an hour or a little more. Parker was still smiling despite Eliots words and Hardison was internally celebrating. About an hour after they got off the phone they arrived near the coordinates the coordinates. Hardison redialed the number and handed it to Eliot.

"Hello?"

"This is Eliot Spencer I was the man Nate had called earlier."

"Oh! Yeah, here he is."

"Yeah?"

"We're about 5 minutes away. Can you guys clear out so we can land?"

"Of course Eliot."

"Oh, and Nate try to move Sophie as little as possible."

"I'll make sure of it."

With that he hung up the phone and gave it back to Jenna. He picked Sophie up and tried to move her as little as possible as they moved off of the large grassy cliff. Minutes later the familiar whoompa-tink of the helicopter was heard as it came into view. As it landed on the grassy cliff Nate swore it was like God descending from heaven. The team rushed out and ran towards them. Most of their words were lost in the sound of he helicopter.

"GET SOPHIE IN THE HELICOPTER!" Eliot yelled over the sound of the blades. Nate nodded and did he was told. Parker and Hardison followed, grabbing Nate and Sophie's bags. "We're taking him to the nearest hospital. Thank you-"

"Thank us later! We'll meet you at the hospital!" Dawn yelled back. Eliot nodded and then rushed back off to the helicopter. The team was finally back together after what seemed like months and months of searching but had only been 3 days.

**Yay! The teams back together. But what exactly are Dawn and Dusk up to? I know they're making the plot confusing but it'll all make sense by epilogue 2.**


	12. Underneath Torn Skin Lies The Truth

**I really have no excuse for this taking so long. Sorry! It's a longer chapter and has something for all you N/S fans that read this. I don't own Leverage**

_Underneath Torn Skin Lies The Truth_

**Part 1:**

Parker hugged Nate once she got in the helicopter. He hugged her back, tears stinging his eyes.

"You have no idea how worried I was," Parker whispered so the team couldn't hear.

"I'm here now."

She pulled away and hugged Sophie. "How are you guys holding up?"

"I don't think I've felt worse in my entire life. Physically and mentally," Nate said in a depressed tone.

"Me too," Sophie said.

"What about emotionally?"

They exchanged a glance. "Pretty well actually."

Hardison and Parker urged them on. Sophie opened her mouth to reply but Eliot slammed the door behind him as he came in.

"Are you guys alright? Are you bleeding? Are you sane?"

"I think the bleeding's gone down significantly and Nate is perfectly sane. We both just feel like crap," Sophie answered calmly. Eliot nodded and let himself relax in the seat.

"Continue Sophie!"

"Oh, yeah. We're doing pretty good emotionally because we kissed."

"Was that before or after he tried to kill you?"

"After. He have me this heart-felt speech about how we were going to need each other to survive."

"So y'all together now?" Hardison asked.

"We haven't talked about it yet," Nate replied firmly but with a soft edge. He did want to be with her and he wanted her to feel safe with her. In truth he was way too in love with her to let her slip out of his fingers again.

"Just out of curiosity what pill made you...stab Sophie?" Eliot asked slowly.

"Love-struck pyscho," Sophie answered gravely.

"I would've expected him to-"

"-Parker, I do not want to talk about what he would've done," Sophie cut her off sharply.

A heavy silence fell over the cabin. Nate knew perfectly well what Parker was going to say and he fully understood Sophie being so sharp with her. In truth, she was lucky that he had only stabbed her. It could've been much worse…and she would've been scarred for life. This trial had been a real fist to the face as he realized his priorities in life, things he should and shouldn't do, and emotions that had been buried deep or never developed. It was amazing and deeply disturbing all at the same time.

"Those hikers that saved your ass are coming to the hospital," Eliot suddenly said.

"I'm going to hug them to death," Hardison said casually.

"I second Hardison," Parker said.

"I owe them my life," Sophie said quietly.

"Me too."

"You too?" She gave him a look. "I got stabbed!"

"I would've killed myself if you died...knowing that it was all my fault..."

She took his hand and smiled sadly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Plus I have to make sure my hand isn't infected and that these drugs haven't left anything toxic in my body. Although I trust Max not to give me anything poisonous."

"I hate him," the four growled in unison.

"Why?"

"Do we need a better explanation then the obvious?" Sophie exclaimed.

"He's a good guy. He just wanted my help."

They all scoffed and the cabin fell silent. It was silent for a majority of the flight until someone decided to bring up q-tips. Or as Eliot pointed out the correct term was cotton swab. Then they got into a huge argument and discussion about the origins and proper and improper uses. All Nate could say was:

"They have not changed a bit."

**Part 2: **

Sophie was taken into care immediately and they decided she needed a blood transfusion. Eliot willing volunteered but his blood type wasn't the same so Parker ended up being the donor. Nate had been taken in for tons of tests to see if the drugs had given his body any permanent damage. Once the tests were done he sterilized his burned hand and got it wrapped up properly. After that the doctors told him to come back if he felt or saw something that looked like infection. The doctor then left the room and left Nate to his own thoughts. He hadn't seen Sophie in hours and was itching to see her. At this point he didn't even care what was wrong with him but to make sure that Sophie was alright. What if the blood transfusion hadn't gone well? What if she had to have an organ removed? What if he gave her permanent damage? Growling, he shut the thoughts from his head and felt his eyes slip closed. He really could go for some sleep...

Dawn spotted the familiar face of Eliot Spencer once they got up to the floor Ford was on. He seemed to recognize them too because he got up and started walking towards them. The other two in the team quickly followed after.

"You have no idea how grateful I - we are that you found Nate and Sophie," Eliot said firmly but gently.

"I can see how much they mean to you," Dusk smiled slightly.

Dawn was about to saw something when Hardison hugged her tightly, soon followed by Parker. "Oh, um, thanks?"

When Parker pulled away she smelled Dawns hair before hugging Dusk (also followed by Hardison)

"Ummm...what?"

"She does that," Eliot informed her quietly.

"Oh."

"Okay, that's enough! You can stop hugging me to death!"

The Hacker and Thief quickly recoiled and stood behind Eliot. He straightened his jacket and brushed it off. "Is it alright if we stay here?"

"Yeah, of course you can stay!"

They nodded and followed the three back to the waiting area. With their backs turned Dawn and Dusk exchanged an evil smirk.

To her huge relief the blood transfusion had gone well and all she needed to do was rest. Not twenty minutes later she was lying down in one of the hospital beds in a deep sleep. Her body was absolutely exhausted from the past days events. It would take a while for her to recover physically and a while to recover mentally too. Even though Nate had made no sexual assault against her it had brought the nightmares that she had buried away back again. It would take a long time to bury it back down in its grave in hell but she'd get there eventually.

He wasn't dreaming; his mind was black. At the very edge of his sleep the world slowly started to seep in white and he could make out the fuzzy objects as they became brighter. He felt a hand on his shoulder and whipped around only to open his eyes to see the doctor.

"I spoke with Eliot and I told him all about the procedures you'll have to go through at home to make sure you flush your body of any toxins. Would you like me to prescribe you a mild pain medication?"

"No."

"I figured. Now go home and get lots of rest." Nate nodded and followed him out towards where the team was.

**Part 3:**

It didn't take much to convince the team to let Nate go see Sophie. Of course Eliot insisted that he stay outside the door. He really didn't want the team to hear what he was going to say but there was no use arguing with Eliot. When he got there Sophie was sleeping and Nate couldn't help but notice how torn down she looked. It was like he could see behind that mask she puts up. He knew what it looked like because he himself put up one. He went over and took her hand in his and looked beneath her torn skin and beneath her lies to see who she really was. And he knew that whatever truth lurked beneath he would still love her.

Sophie woke up with the feeling of someone's hands holding her. She knew by the familiar feeling of roughness but gentleness that it was Nate. Her eyelids were heavy with sleep as she slowly forced them open. Sure enough Nate was sitting there looking at her.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey Sophie."

She knew he was here to talk about something important because he had called her Sophie instead of Soph. "You're here to talk."

"Yeah...I just wanted to ask you if you're alright."

"I'm fine," she lied.

"Sophie, please stop lying to me."

"Maybe you should stop lying to me," She snapped at him.

"What are you talking about?"

She sighed and buried her head in her hands. "I don't know Nate. I just feel like a mental bomb went off in my head and you're the easiest person to lash my anger out at."

"Maybe I could help you sort out things in your head..."

"No," she shook her head, "no...you don't know how to help me with this."

"Please Sophie, I'll help you with anything. Please I just want to help."

"You've helped a lot of people Nate but you've never helped someone like me."

"It doesn't matter I can still help you!"

She clenched her eyes shut and felt the hot tears fall down her face in big drops. His hand was tight around hers, thumb stroking the back of her hand. She ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath. "I've been scarred by men before Nate…and by women. I've been hurt and abused…violated...I've been treated like nothing before. Treated like I'm something they can just hurt and hurt until it falls apart…until they can throw it away. I know what could've happened…and I know what did happen. It felt familiar…and not in a good way."

A nauseating silence feel over the room as Nates jaw feel open and his eyes went wide. His eyes were then filled with a typhoon of emotions that nearly set off his own mental bomb. Fear, worry, anger, regret, pity, sadness, and others he couldn't even name. He blinked once and looked straight into the woman's eyes in front of him. She was scared - scarred. Nate hugged her tightly and then pulled away to kiss her. And this time trying to put forth and express what words couldn't because he was truly at a loss for words. Only when he felt like he had expressed his feelings did he pull away.

"I know Nate. And yes I need you more then ever because I trust you." Sophie whispered. She was smart, she knew what Nate was trying to say in the kiss. He looked at her with understanding but slightly puzzled eyes. She also knew what that meant. "Of course I trust them and they're my only family but I know you, and you know me. I feel comfortable sharing it with you more then anyone else."

Nate looked at her for a second, lips parted and eyes glossy. She was right. He felt the same exact way with her and had never felt like it with anyone else. So he kissed her again, slow and gentle. He hoped she understood his understanding and his feelings for her. His undeniable, unspoken, whole-hearted feelings for her.

"Nathan," she whispered against his lips.

He pulled away enough so he could look at her beautiful, raw face. His hand slipped from her arm to her hand. "I know this is my fault and I wish I could erase it from your mind so you would have never had to feel this pain. In the graveyard I knew I should've admitted my feelings whether you were ready for them or not. When you were gone I was a wreck and I just didn't know what to do anymore. You've always been my compass. I-I love you Sophie. I love you more then anyone in the world and I hope you know that."

"I love you too Nate." She gently caressed his face with her hand. "And despite being an oblivious bastard you are the sweetest, loving, kindest man I know. I could never live without you and I could never imagine being with anyone else."

To seal off their words they kissed. A kiss that meant miles and spoke a thousand words and so jam packed with emotions their hearts nearly exploded.

**Part 4:**

"Do you have the files?" He asked over the phone in a smooth voice.

"Yes we do," Dawn replied.

"And how long does Sophie have to stay in the hospital?"

"They said about 2 or 3 days to make sure nothing went wrong with the surgery."

He cursed under his breath. "The day after she gets out go and give it to the FBI."

"Of course. I do have a question though."

"What?"

Dawn took a deep breath and looked at Dusk. He urged her on. "We found pills in Fords bag. Do you know if those are of any importance?"

"They could have just been some regular medication."

"The only reason I don't think that is because he stabbed Devereaux yet she still went back to him and acted like nothing happened."

"She cost my company millions! I don't care if she got stabbed. Now stop asking questions." With that he hung up the phone.

**Who was on the phone? Good question.**


	13. Stuck In The Hospital Bed

**I decided to just post the rest of the story now since you guys have been patiently waiting.**

_Stuck In The Hospital Bed_

**Part 1: **

Nate woke up in an art gallery. The lights were low, creating eerie shadows over the paintings. He stood up slowly and walked to the center of the room. There was a brightly lit display case filled with white gas.

"N-n-not to-n-n-night," The words shuddered and reverberated through the tall room. He ducked as if a bat flew over his head. When he looked around again he was in his apartment only it was empty and the paintings were hung on his wall. The scene change didn't phase him.

"I'm the bait." Words spoken in the shadows by a shadow creature. He touched the glass, needing to know what was hidden in the smoke. Nothing happened. He tried pushing and pulling it off. Still nothing happened. The anger was washing over him like a tidal wave and he sent a jaw-shattering punch straight at the glass. His eyes jolted open and stared off into the darkness of his room. It was just a dream. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down his rushing heart-rate. What did the dream mean? Why was he so eager to find out what was in the case? But why had he woken up in the only art gallery he remembered?

Her high heels clicked on the wooden floor of the office. She had come to meet someone for something. Her mind was fuzzy from the alcohol she had ingested earlier. Or at least she thought that was the reason. She tapped the manila folder against her fingers as she greeted the workers that passed by. Oh if only they knew who she was. She smirked at the thought and knocked on the office door. When she stepped inside a fire was burning upon his desk. Well, whoever it was. Every time she tried to look at him her eyes slipped away like he was protected by an invisible force field. She handed him the folder with a small smile. He flipped through the pages before throwing it in the fire. She frowned, eyebrow knit in confusion. What was going on?

"I now declare you sentenced to prison for life!" There was the loud smack of the judges gavel and she felt her arms pulled behind her back and handcuffs around her wrists. When she looked again she was in a cold brick cell with her hands still handcuffed. Cold tears were falling down her face.

"I don't belong here. I don't belong here. I don't belong here."

She awoke slowly, a salty taste in her mouth. Her body was weak and sore. The hospital was cool and unpleasant as the gray shadows desaturated the room. If only she was healed and could go back home. Her dream was right; she didn't belong here.

**Part 2:**

Nate went back to the hospital the next day to see Sophie. He had gone to bed at 10 and woken up at 12. To him it seemed like a horribly long time but Eliot said it was good that he got 12 hours of sleep. Sophie was sleeping when he got there and he noticed she was looking much better. He wanted to kiss her so badly but he restrained himself.

When Sophie awoke she heard the soft whispers of Nate and Parker. She kept her eyes shut and eves dropped on their conversation.

"But you really should Nate!"

"I will do it when I feel that it's right."

"But you know that she wants it."

She heard him sigh. "Things has been hard for her lately and I'm not going to force anything that will make her uncomfortable on her." She resisted the urge to smile at how sweet he was.

"Are you at least going to ask her to move in with you?"

"That's a big step Parker and I don't think our relationship has developed enough to where she'd feel comfortable living with me."

"I'm trying to help you!"

Silence fell over the room again and Sophie forced herself to pretend like she was tired. She opened her eyes slowly and let out a content sigh. "Good morning."

"Good morning Sophie!" Parker greeted loudly.

"How's my man?"

There was a few seconds of silence. "Who me?" Nate said, snapping from his silent oblivious state.

"Who else?"

"Oh..." His ears turned red. "I'm doing good. Feeling better."

"That's good. Eliot told me you were on a fast for a week."

Nate grumbled. The doctor had put him on a fast for a week to get rid of any of the toxins. He was starving and it had only been a day. How was he going to keep it up for a week?! "Yeah."

"And how are you doing Parker?"

"I'm doing okay. Those hikers kind of weird me out...the girl smells like cologne and a 300 dollar suit. And the guy smells like dirt and metal."

The Mastermind and Grifter blinked at her. "What? You can learn a lot from what people smell like!"

"You didn't lick them did you?" Nate asked.

She paused, not looking at him. "No."

Sophie sighed. Of course. Leave it to Parker to smell someone and lick them to figure out something about them.

After a nice talk with Nate Eliot and Hardison came in. Eliot started talking about medical stuff and the events of the past days but she cut him short. She changed the subject and somehow they then got into a conversation about Hardisons game. Eliot eventually got annoyed and left leaving Hardison and Sophie both grinning and laughing.

"You're cooler then I thought Soph," Hardison said with a grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

"I mean it! I didn't know you had such a great sense of humor."

Sophie felt herself blush a little. "Well I guess..."

"That must be one of the reasons Nate is so in love with you," Hardison said as casually as he could. He was trying to grift her a little bit. (Parker was trying to con Nate and Sophie into admitting their feelings for each other.)

"Mmm...I don't think so."

He frowned. "Why?"

"I just never make jokes when I'm around him."

"Maybe next time in an argument when he calls you're crazy you can say-"

"-I'm Gisselle!" She pretended to lash out a whip. "The French bitch!"

Hardison laughed. "Definitely do that!"

She laughed with him but the fun train was cut short when the doctor came into do more tests. Hardison held up his hand for a fist bump but she just blinked at him. He sighed and walked out of the room. If she wanted to be fun she would have to learn how to fist bump.

**Part 3:**

When Eliot got back to the waiting room he saw Mike and Jenna (Dusk and Dawn) were there. He smiled at them and waved.

"Is...Sophie awake right now?" Dawn asked.

"The doctors are coming to do tests in a few minutes and she's with Hardison right now."

"Oh, okay. We'll just wait."

The tests took for what seemed like forever. When it was finally all done and over with they held back visitors for 15 minutes. She was angry for them keeping them back and angry that people were visiting. Honestly, she was horribly worn out from talking all day because it was put a strain on her stomach. Once the 15 minutes was up the familiar hikers walked in.

"Oh! Hello there! You're the ones that saved Nate and I's life," She grinned in admiration.

They both smiled. "Truly it was nothing. We live only an hour away from the forest and we always go there."

"You still saved my life! Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"No," Dusk said.

At the very same time Dawn said: "Do you know anyone in the FBI?"

Sophie narrowed her eyes at them. "No..."

Dawn nodded and then looked at her watch. "We must be going now." She looked back up at Sophie. "Glad to see you're doing well. Goodbye."

With that the two "hikers" we're off. Sophie was still confused about they're strange question but sleep overtook her mind and she forgot about it. For now.

**Yeah, I know Dawn was being kind of weird….and the part about the French bitch is from Coupling.**


	14. No TBone Steaks Here

_No T-Bone Steaks Here_

**Part 1: **

The team was absolutely stunned at the news. It was the last day Sophie had to be at the hospital and she had pondered the hikers strange question for a while. She decided that it would be safest if Hardison ran a background check on them. So he did. The news they found was...disturbing. Mike and Jenna A.K.A Dusk and Dawn were assassins and con-artists. They weren't good con-artists like the Leverage crew they were bad ones. Dawn was the upfront killer (but also a grifter) and Dusk was the smoother and smarter grifter (and also a killer.) They took on jobs from filthy rich CEOs and did their dirty work for them. But this was the least stunning of the news.

Ian Blackpoole had sent them to arrest the Leverage crew.

When Dawn and Dusk came to the hospital that day the team pretended like nothing was wrong. Parker put a tracker on both of them so Hardison could follow their movements. Sophie was released from the hospital and the team took them to the (new) hotel they were staying at. Once there Hardison checked the assassins current location. Hardison, Eliot, and Parker went to follow them and left Nate and Sophie to themselves.

"So..." Nate started.

"So?"

"Whatd'you want to do?"

"I don't know." A long span of silence followed her words. "I'm feeling much better," She smiled at him.

He smiled back. "That's good."

"While I was in the hospital," she started walking towards him. "I had all this time to think. And while I was thinking I decided the best way to get rid of a bad memory is to replace it with a good one."

She was standing an inch away from him now, a devious smile on her face. He narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean?"

She kissed him slowly, her tongue finding its way into his mouth. He kissed back eagerly. She pulled at his curly hair enough to get him to slow down. This was not going to be painful and fast. It was going to be romantic and gentle. It would be the exact opposite of her bad memory. She pulled away from the sensual kiss and motioned to the empty bed with her eyes. He smiled - was that seductiveness she saw - and carried her over to the bed.

**Part 2: **

Eliot was trying to think of a plan to stop the assassins before something really bad happened. Nate wasn't there to help think of a plan so he felt completely lost.

"Guys! I think I know where they're going!" Hardison suddenly said.

"Where?!" Eliot and Parker both simultaneously yelled.

"The FBI bureau!"

That's when it hit him. They could cut them off by taking another route. It was longer but there was less traffic. He did a sharp right and pulled over. "Parker, you're driving!"

Parker grinned excitedly and took the wheel. She sped off down the road onto the alternate route. Hardison was staring intently at the screen as he watched the tracker head straight for the FBI bureau. Parker did a sharp left and zoomed down the road and then another sharp left. She sped down the road and Hardison watched as the tracker went into the intersection. When he looked up the car was heading straight for the center.

3

2

1

Blackness

**Part 3: **

Maggie had been so very wrong about Nate. She felt like she was in heaven. Her plan was working perfectly. She couldn't imagine a better time. Then there was ringing. She wasn't sure where it was coming from so she ignored it. Then Nate stopped. She whimpered at the loss.

"Hello?!"

His tone wasn't angry, but urgent. Something was wrong. She quickly sat up to look at him. "What do you mean?! So he's...? And what about her?...And the others?...It's only minor injuries?...Thank God!...Will they have to be taken to the hospital?...Okay...I understand...thank you."

"What's going on?!"

"Parker crashed the car into Dawn and Dusks car," Nate said gravely.

"Is everyone okay?! Are they alright?" Sophie asked quickly.

"Parker broke her arm and Eliot broke two ribs. Hardison just has some cuts from the glass because he was in the back seat."

"Oh, thank God," She breathed a sigh of relief. The relief only lasted a second. "What about the assassins?"

"Dusk is dead. Parker t-boned the car and came in on the passenger's side. And I'm not sure about Dawn...they said that the person must've run off."

"So we have no idea if the file ever got to the FBI...?" Sophie asked slowly, her voice filled with worry. Nate shook his head sadly. He went to get off the bed but Sophie stopped him. "Can we finish first?"

"Sophie, we might be arrested soon."

She sighed. "Please?"

"But-"

She gave him puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

He sighed, defeated and leaned back over to her. She kissed him passionately and before she knew it she forgot all about the car crash and being arrested.

**Part 4: **

Leave it to Parker to get a cast with dinosaurs on it. She was quite cheery despite the fact they had gotten in a car crash and killed someone. That cheeriness lasted until she saw Hardison. He glared daggers at her. It scared her. "I've got good news and bad news."

"Bad news first," Eliot grumbled.

"Parker is going to be charged for vehicular manslaughter. Good news is I got the file back."

"What? Hardison! Can't you make it seem like I didn't intentionally crash it?!"

"Look, there was witnesses and even if we pretend like you were drunk you're still busted."

Parker ran her hand through her hair. The police would be there soon and they had to find a way of of it. She was not going to prison. "Let's get Nate and Sophie and get out of here."

"How are we supposed to get a car? It's not like there's cabs out here," Hardison reminded them.

"We can find a place to lay low and I call Ollie and tell him to pick us up."

Once Ollie picked them up the three felt like they could finally relax. They had already called Nate and Sophie and told them to be ready to go. In the back of their minds they still couldn't help but worry about Ian.


	15. Epilogue

_Epilogue _

The anger was boiling over in Ian. "How did you let this happen!?" He roared.

"My brother is dead!" Dawn screamed. She had managed to run away from the crash and soon after found out the news that he was dead and the file was missing. Nothing like this had ever happened in her life and it hurt like a sonofabitch.

"I don't care! You should've avoided Parker's speeding car and gotten the fake evidence to the FBI!"

"I couldn't do anything about it!"

"Then go kill them!"

Dawn didn't reply. She didn't want to kill anyone anymore. All she wanted to do was crawl under a rock and never come out. She ran from the apartment and took the elevator down to the lobby. When she got down there she saw police cars outside and police swarming the lobby. A man came up behind her and pulled her arms behind her and handcuffed her.

"Dawn Toma you are under arrest for murder, theft, stealing..." The man went to list on all the illegal things she had done. She growled in anger. When he was done he turned to his cop buddies. "Go take care of Blackpoole upstairs."

As the cops ran off and the crowd thinned she saw Nathan Fords crew smiling devilishly at her. "Them! They're the thieves! That blonde one killed my brother!"

Parker just looked at her innocently.

"What's this?" The cop asked. He pulled of the bag of drugs she had taken from Fords bag. "Are you doing drugs?"

"No! They're his!" She screamed. "I took them from him."

The cop shook his head sadly and gave them to his cop buddy before forcing towards the door. "Come on. Let's go."

**-FLASHBACK-**

"Hardison, where is Ian staying?" Nate asked once they got into the car.

It took Hardison a few minutes but he finally came up with an apartment in town. "Clover Apartments."

"And does Dawn still have her tracker on her?"

Hardison smirked a little and brought up her location. He showed the team the screen, a little red dot headed towards Clover apartments. Nate smirked and pulled out his phone. It hadn't taken long for him to come up with the plan. The girl was predictable. Her brother had died and the file had been stolen. She was going to go straight to Ian for what to do next. Once his suspicions were confirmed - as they had just been - he would call the police and give them an anonymous tip. He hung up the phone and smirked his signature victory smirk.

**-END OF FLASHBACK-**

Nate still wore the smirk on his face as he watched Ian get dragged away by the police. Ian glared at them. Once the police had disappeared the team made their way out of the apartment complex.

"You know we never figured of who killed Frank," Parker wondered out loud.

"It was Dawn and Dusk," Eliot said. "Remember when I said someone was out to kill Nate and Sophie...well it was them."

"Oh, that makes sense."

Once they all climbed into the car and Ollie started driving towards the Dubious Airport Hardison turned around to look at the team. "So, who's going to point out the big pink argyle elephant in the car?"

"What?" Nate asked, confused.

"It's obvious you two slept together," Eliot said. Parker nodded in agreement. Sophie blushed and Nates ears got red.

Parker grinned and then high-fived Hardison. "Our plan worked!"

"Dammit Parker!" Nate swore. Everyone laughed except for Nate who just glared at anyone. Sophie pressed a light kiss to his cheek and he couldn't help but smile a little bit. Finally everything was right in his life. He had a family and the woman he loved.

**THE END**

Max sat down on his balcony with a nice hot cup of coffee in his hands. He assumed that Ian had taken care of Fords team already. His phone rang. He picked it up without looking at the number since he assumed it was Ian calling.

"I presume everything has been taken care of."

"If being arrested was on your list of things."

"Arrested?!"

"Fords team. They had Dawn and I arrested."

"You idiot!" Max yelled into the phone. "I gave you everything. I got his team there, I made him vulnerable, I gave you the assassins, I put him in a secluded location, and you screw it up!"

Ian sighed.

"I helped you-"

"-and I failed you. I know. I know."

"You screwed up my plan to take Nathan Fords crews down!" Max spat.

"You know they record these calls, right?"

Two days later Max Jenkins was arrested. When Nate found out he was disgusted. This man had nearly ruined his life. It was in the past though. What was done was done. His relationship with Sophie was not a normal one...mostly friends with extras. They watched as the Hacker and Thief's relationship slowly started to form. And Eliot...well was Eliot. They took on jobs like they always had and continued being the amazing team of bad ass thieves that did bad-assery things while being a bunch of hilarious people in a dysfunctional little Robin Hood thief family. But after a complex and difficult job that could've sent them all to jail Nate was approached by a woman. She had an offer.

To take down Damian Moreau in 6 months.

**THE OTHER END**

**Thanks for reading :) I hope it all made sense.**


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